Summary of Oftel research amongst members of TUA and DMA, May 2002

Introduction

1. In a recent Oftel survey (Feb 02), 3% of small businesses and 20% of medium businesses claimed to have special rate numbers such as 0800 (freephone), 0845 (local rate), 0870 (national rate) and 09 (premium rate numbers).

2. The current process for acquiring special rate numbers is as follows: Businesses contact their preferred supplier who offers them a particular number or range of numbers to choose from. If a business is dissatisfied with the numbers offered, or if they have a particular number in mind that they want, some suppliers may contact another supplier and ask for the numbers that the business wants. This process is known as pre-allocation portability as the numbers are ported between suppliers before being allocated to a customer. In most circumstances, the customer will have to either accept the number offered or choose service from the alternative supplier.

3. Oftel has recently conducted a range of research on businesses’ awareness, use and opinion of allocation of special rate numbers including questions on our quarterly SME business surveys, qualitative research with SMEs and Oftel Large Business Panel (LBP), and this most recent survey amongst members of the TUA and DMA.

4. The research has examined businesses’ awareness, use, and opinion on allocation of special rate numbers, in particular, whether they are happy with the existing system for obtaining these numbers.

5. During March and April 2002 questionnaires were circulated to members of the TUA via their members’ magazine, and an Internet version of the questionnaire was posted for DMA members. A copy of the questionnaire is attached in appendix 1. The person in the company most responsible for selecting these numbers was asked to complete the questionnaire. In total, 51 responses were received and are not necessarily representative of the views of all members, hence results should be treated in the manner of qualitative research. The majority of TUA respondents were in IT/communications posts, and the majority of DMA respondents were marketing/advertising posts.

Key findings

Use of special rate numbers

6. General customer contact eg call centres, was the main use of special rate numbers (used by two-thirds of those with special rate numbers) and about 3 in 5 used the numbers for response to specific marketing / advertising campaigns. About a quarter of used the numbers for internal communications within the business.

7. 3 in 5 of those businesses using special rate numbers for specific marketing/advertising campaigns, activated or used existing numbers that the company already had but didn’t necessarily use all the time. Less than 1 in 10 acquired new numbers for specific campaigns etc.

Allocation of special rate numbers

8. The majority (just over 4 in 5) of businesses were satisfied with the special rate numbers they’d been allocated. Most (just over 4 in 5) had not been selected for the actual number (ie their memorability or relevance to the business eg alpha-numerics). A quarter had ever decided against using a particular supplier because they hadn’t wanted or liked the numbers offered.

9. 2 in 5 businesses claimed to have changed the supplier of some or all of their special rate numbers. Of those who kept their numbers when they changed supplier – about a third said the process was easy, and about half said it wasn’t so easy.

Awareness and use of pre-allocation portability

10. 2 in 5 were aware of pre-allocation portability. This was slightly higher amongst TUA (half were aware) than DMA members (a quarter were aware). This is possibly because TUA members completing the survey were more likely to be in the IT/communications departments whilst DMA members were more likely to be in advertising/marketing related posts. Just less than 1 in 10 had actually made use of pre-allocated portability and asked their preferred supplier to get a specific number they required.

Preferred system for allocation of special rate numbers

11. About two-thirds of these businesses said they would prefer a system where they selected their special rate numbers from a database and then selected their supplier separately. However, this may be due to the larger than average size (ie number of employees) of participating companies. These findings (preference for an independent supplier and number selection system for special rate numbers) are not representative of SMEs, only a fifth of whom wanted this type of system (taken from Oftel’s quarterly business survey Feb 02).

12. The nature of the current survey does not enable discussion of issues of how a system might work. Other qualitative research conducted with Oftel’s Large Business Panel in January 2002 revealed a wish that that any change to the system should not result in increased bureaucracy.

Information on available numbers

13. About 7 in 10 businesses (members of the DMA / TUA) thought they would use an independent source of information showing the numbers available and which operators held these numbers. This was slightly higher amongst DMA than TUA members, which is not surprising given that marketing people are likely to be more interested in specific memorable numbers for their campaigns etc. Again these results are higher than amongst small and medium businesses, around a third of whom thought they would use such information.

In summary

14. Whilst larger businesses tended to be less satisfied than smaller ones with the existing system for acquiring and porting special rate numbers, the majority were satisfied with the numbers they’d been allocated. Most of their numbers were not selected for the particular characteristics of the number (ie its memorability or relevance to the business). Members of the TUA and DMA expressed greater preference than the other businesses for changing the existing allocation process and introducing a system that enabled the number to be selected separately from the supplier. However, more detailed discussions would be necessary to test the advantages, disadvantages and practicalities of various options and, as with the discussions of the LBP, these may result in refinement or revision of respondents’ opinions.

15. There was some interest however, (about a third of small and medium businesses, and a higher proportion of the TUA/DMA/LBP businesses) in an independent source of information that would show businesses exactly which numbers were available, and which suppliers currently held these numbers.

Appendix 1 Questionnaire

1. Approximately how many freephone (0800), local rate (0845), national rate (0870) or premium rate numbers (09), does your business have in total? Tick one answer only

1
2-10
11-50
51-100
Over 100
Don’t know

2. What are these numbers mainly used for? Tick all that apply

Customers contacting us generally eg call centres
Customers responding to specific marketing / advertising campaigns
Communication within our business
Internet access / provision to customers
Something else

3. Thinking about the actual numbers you have (eg 0800 123 456), overall how satisfied are you with the numbers you selected or were allocated? Tick one answer only

Very satisfied
Fairly satisfied
Not very satisfied
Not at all satisfied

4. Approximately how many of these numbers were selected for the actual number rather than the supplier (eg price, quality)? Tick one answer only

All / most numbers
Some numbers
Few / none of our numbers
Don’t know

5. Have you ever decided not to use a supplier you would have preferred to use because they didn’t offer the number you wanted?

Yes
No
Don’t know

6. Were you aware you could select the supplier you wanted to use and ask them to get a specific number you wanted from another operator who owned it? Tick one answer only

Yes was aware and have done this
Yes was aware but have never done this
No was not aware
Not sure

7. How often would you use an independent source of information which showed which numbers were currently available and which operators held these numbers? Tick one answer only

Would use for all / most numbers we wanted
Would use for some numbers we wanted
Would use for only a few numbers we wanted
Would be unlikely to use for any of the numbers wanted

8. Which of the following best describes the way you use these numbers for specific marketing / advertising campaigns? Tick all that apply

We increase capacity over our exiting numbers to handle additional calls
We lease a new number from an operator for the period of the campaign and return it at the end
We activate/use a number we already have for which we pay ongoing rental but don’t use all the
time
Other method – please describe
Not applicable to my business

9. Have your ever changed the operator supplying these numbers? Tick one answer only

Never changed supplier of these numbers
Changed supplier but kept some or all of the same numbers that we had with that supplier
Changed supplier and changed some or all of the numbers we had with that supplier
Don’t know

10. Overall, how easy was the process of keeping the same numbers when moving to a different supplier? Tick one answer only

Very easy
Fairly easy
Not very easy
Not at all easy
Don’t know

11. Why did you change some or all of these numbers when you changed supplier? Tick all that apply

Old supplier said we couldn't keep the numbers if we moved to a different supplier
New supplier said we couldn’t keep the numbers we had with the old supplier
Wanted new numbers / were consolidating our numbers
Was too much hassle to arrange to keep old numbers
Was too expensive to keep old numbers
Other reason – what state what this was

12. Which one of the following ways of selecting these numbers would you most prefer? Tick one answer only

Choose the number from a list of all the numbers available and then select a telecoms supplier separately
Ask your preferred supplier to get specific numbers of your choice from other suppliers who own them
Choose from the list of numbers available from your preferred supplier only
Any of the above / no strong preference
None of the above – please state what system you would like to see
Don’t know

13. Approximately how many staff does your business employ in the UK?

1
2-10
11-50
51-250
251-500
Over 500

14. Which of the following best describes your business’ main activity?

Provision of fixed or mobile telecoms services
Telecoms consultancy
Internet Service Provider
Other

15. Approximately what % of your business’ inbound calls/traffic comes over these numbers?

25% or less
Over 25%, up to 50%
Over 50%, up to 75%
Over 75%
Don’t know

16. Which of the following best describes your role?

Marketing / advertising
IT / communications
Other – please state